Papyrus vs the Forces of LOVE
by lesbianpapyrus
Summary: Underfell AU. After spending centuries trapped in the Underground, monsters have become bitter towards humanity and violent towards each other. Then a human, the last soul they need for revenge, falls, and starts changing lives... especially the life of one monster in particular. May be graphic violence in the future.
1. Once Upon a Time

_Chapter 1 – Once Upon a Time_

Everyone knows that monsters are magical beings, made of hopes and dreams, and that this makes them predisposed toward goodness and virtue. Though they have the ability to do wrong, and have done wrong, it is greatly harmful to their souls' wellbeing, and they will always naturally gravitate toward a more righteous choice before choosing their final path.

But what if this were not so?

What if monsters were neither inherently good nor evil, equally capable of both, just like their human counterparts?

What if monsters could, as a whole, become as embittered and nasty and unkind as humanity at its worst?

What if monsters lived in a world filled with darkness more than any other, that yet could be filled with light more than any other?

In all worlds, love and LOVE fight their bloody battles.

In this world, they fight their fiercest ever.

And, as in all worlds, the question arises: which will prevail?

In order to understand, we must start before the beginning.

Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS.

One day, war broke out between the two races.

After a long battle, the humans were victorious.

They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell.

Many years later…

There was a human child.

This child fell into the Underground, befriended the Prince of the monsters, and even joined the Royal Family as one of their own.

The goodness of this child, the love they had for monsterkind, gave the monsters hope that someday they would reconcile with the human race and live in peace on the surface again.

Then the child became ill and died.

The Prince absorbed their soul, crossed the barrier to the surface, and was mortally wounded by the humans above.

When he returned to his home, his dust spread across the gardens, and his soul and the child's were lost.

The King declared war against humanity in his grief and anger. The Queen, hoping it was only a passing desire, tried to convince him to stay openminded.

But a new child fell, and the King took their soul, and the Queen could not bear to see what her husband was becoming. She left her home and took refuge in the Ruins on the other side of the vast caverns, not to be seen by outside eyes for hundreds of years.

Decades, even centuries passed between each new human soul gained, and each new generation of monsters became more bitter and brokenhearted than the one before it.

Now, the monsters have lost all of hope of ever reconciling with humanity—indeed, many of them have lost all hope of ever being free.

The only thing that keeps them alive is spite and their King's plan for revenge.

Overcome by their anger, they turn on each other, and violence spreads unfettered through the Underground.

But there are some monsters who still remember the light from generations past, who cling to goodness and mercy in hopes that they will someday return in full.

These monsters are few and far between, and most stay quiet about their true feelings, for mercy is considered a weakness. For anyone else to know could mean the death of themselves, and worse—the final stamping out of the light, the final triumph of the darkness.

Most of these monsters stay hidden, sharing their light with each other and teaching it to their children, sometimes taking in the few other monsters who wish to know of anything more than violence. Few of them venture out from their homes to do anything other than work and gather food, and none of them risk going anywhere near the King.

Except for one.

One monster, who has more of the light than anyone else, works as the Royal Scientist, right near the top of King Asgore's inner circle.

This one monster has two small sons whom he loves dearly and with whom he wants to share the light.

And it is with this monster that our story truly begins.

oooooooooo

A/N: hey guys! I went on vacation for a week, tried to work on my papyton fic a little bit, and came back with a new story lol, because of course the best new fic ideas come when you're trying to think about another, already-existing fic you're writing...

this is based off the version of Underfell I like to daydream about. I can't really get behind the most common version of the AU-not that people can't enjoy it, or that I wanna get on a high horse and act like My Version Is Better, but it just seems so mean-spirited and antithetical to the original spirit of Undertale, having the monsters be Naturally Evil or whatever. I really prefer versions where the monsters just got bitter instead, hence why I'm writing this.

so yeah, you can tell from the title this story is going to focus on Papyrus, shocker, he is my favorite character after all. but I needed to establish the world first, and introduce a character who will be integral to the story, even if he isn't around for long...

first few chapters might be a bit short, but maybe that'll be easier on you guys anyway. I imagine things will get longer later.

I'm going to be writing this pretty much in tandem with my papyton fic, so updates for both will probably switch off until one or the other is finished (probably this one will be done first).

anyway I hope you all enjoy! I know not much is happening at the moment but there'll be some heartwarming and cute stuff next chapter, and maybe some sad stuff, too.


	2. The Charge

_Chapter 2 – The Charge_

To his colleagues, W.D. Gaster is a monster of few words. He comes to work, checks his experiments, gives orders at his employees, writes reports, and meets with the King. His manner is a bit gruff and emotionless, but not unkind. At night, he goes home to his children in a relatively quiet corner of the Capital.

It is here that the true Gaster reveals himself, the Gaster that very few people know. He goes to collect his sons from his neighbors, two fish monsters with a small daughter of their own. When he sees his boys, a great smile breaks over his skeletal face, and when they run to him, chattering about what games they played today and asking how was Daddy's day at work and what would they eat for dinner tonight, he hugs them as if he will never do so again.

Tonight, as he walks them home, Gaster notices that his older son, Sans, is unusually quiet. Sans is eight years old and goes to school all the way on the other side of the Capital during the day. Sans' natural disposition is very quiet, and he is physically very weak, which makes him an easy target for the bigger, bullying children, and so Gaster figures something must have happened.

"Dad…" Sans whispers before Gaster can even prompt him. "Why are the other kids at school so mean?"

Gaster slowly closes the front door and hangs up his coat on the rack next to it. The question has been asked so many times, and each time he has given a different answer.

Perhaps it is time for him to know the real one.

Gaster sits Sans down in a chair and explains to him about humans, the war, and how the monsters have gradually fallen into despair and bitterness.

"But why did the humans attack us, Dad?" Sans wonders when his father is finished telling. "What did we do to deserve this?"

Gaster sighs. "We had done nothing at the time. The humans attacked us out of fear, mostly… they were afraid that we would attempt to steal their souls."

"Would we have?" Sans' eyes are wide.

"Truthfully, I don't know," Gaster admits. "I don't believe the King had anything planned, but perhaps some lesser monsters did. We are just as capable of evildoing as the humans are… but unfortunately, you already know that quite well."

"So then, are the humans… are they all bad?"

Gaster turns a stern eye onto his son. "The humans made a rash decision based on the false assumption that _all_ monsters wanted to do something bad. We must never make the same mistake the other way around—as much as we might like to believe otherwise, there _are_ good humans who exist." Then, almost as if he needs to reassure himself, he adds, "There _must_ be."

"But… but even if the monsters used to be good, they're mostly bad now." Sans trembles. "What if the humans are the same way? What if there's nobody good left?"

Gaster kneels down and puts his hands on his child's shoulders. "Why, Sans. Of course there are good people left! The Queen was very good when she was here—"

"But she's gone now."

"I think she's still here, just hiding, like the rest of us," Gaster whispers. "Our neighbors are good, aren't they?"

Sans thinks about their fishy neighbors. Their daughter, Undyne, is a little bratty, but she gets along very well with his little brother. And her parents are very kind to him, picking him up from school every day.

"And you know who else is good?" Gaster asks, smiling a little.

"Who?"

"You and me," he whispers, booping Sans on the nose.

The child gasps a little. "Me?"

"Of course! I've tried to raise you to be nice, haven't I?"

"Yeah." Sans glances around. "What about Papyrus? He gets into a lot of trouble…"

Gaster looks over at his tiny four-year-old son on the other side of the room, throwing blocks around and yelling nonsense, obviously uninterested in their conversation. "I think he's good, too. But he's also very young, and young people are only just learning what's right and wrong." He turns back to Sans. "That's why we have to help him."

"Okay." Sans swings his feet back and forth.

Gaster stays knelt in front of him. "So. What did happen at school today?" he asks kindly.

Tears start to gather in Sans' eyes. "Some of the kids stole my lunch and another one punched me in the stomach," he sniffs. "Didn't hurt, but it knocked me on the ground and then they kicked me in the ribs…"

"What!" shouts a tiny, high-pitched voice. It appears that Papyrus has been listening after all. He comes charging straight over and climbs up on Sans' lap. "I'm gonna kill 'em!"

Gaster shudders violently at hearing the word 'kill' come out of his son's mouth. "No!" he cries, forcing Papyrus to look at him. "You must never kill. Only if you're defending yourself, and even then only if you have to."

"But why?" The child kicks his feet angrily. "If we kill the bad guys, then there'll be only good guys. No more problem."

Gaster shakes his head. "Killing, or even just hurting someone, damages your soul, and it can be unfixable. And some 'bad guys' don't deserve to die. Some of them are just hurting, and can change for good. We just need to show them love. And I'm not talking about capital LOVE, I mean we show them gentleness and mercy."

Papyrus continues to kick and crosses his arms in a pout. "What's so great about love, anyway? Sans is nice, but he just gets kicked around, and then he cries about it."

Gaster takes Papyrus into his own lap. "Well, you're angry that he gets bullied, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Don't you know why?"

Papyrus pulls his turtleneck sweater over his mouth and nose, still pouting. "Dunno."

"It's because you _love_ him, and care about him," Gaster explains. "You don't want him to hurt anymore. And that's what we have to show other people, if we ever want to have a hope of them changing."

"I don't get it."

Gaster strokes his boy's skull, a pain in his eyes that neither child can understand. "You will someday."

"Okay, Daddy. Can I go play again?"

Gaster lets Papyrus down, and the child returns to throwing his blocks in the air and shouting.

Sans notices the worry on his father's face. "Are you sure he's gonna be good, Dad?" he whispers.

Gaster kneels back down in front of his son, his expression very grave. "Papyrus is… already stronger than you physically, but he is still very vulnerable to the evil in this world. It's only with proper guidance that he'll even have a chance of making it, and even then…" He does not want to think about how his younger child could end up. He takes his elder child's hand. "Sans, you must promise me something."

"What is it, Dad?"

"Promise me…" Gaster isn't sure what he wants to say. "Promise me you'll protect your brother."

"But you said he's already stronger than me," Sans objects. "You told me I'll always be weak because my soul only has 1 HP and can't get any more. I can't protect him!"

"There are different ways of being strong, Sans," Gaster reminds him. "You are strong in the way that matters."

Sans blinks. He is entirely unsure of what his father means, but it's obvious he believes he can do it. So Sans will believe him, too.

"Okay, Dad. I promise."

oooooooooo

A/N: hi guys! I'm back with some babybones! Snas is a sweet boy and Papyrus is doing his best, but he's already showing signs of being corrupted by the world he lives in...

but Gaster believes in both of them, and that it's all going to turn out okay in the end.

I have to say, it was interesting to write Gaster as Dadster, as I'm most used to seeing him be the Big Evil Scientist Using Sans And Papyrus As Test Subjects and the like (and indeed, that's the kind of role he plays in another story of mine). I'm getting rather attached to him actually. Which is unfortunate.

anyway, I hope you enjoyed babybones while you had it, because next chapter we're zooming forward in time!


	3. The Spark

_Chapter 3 – The Spark_

W.D. Gaster is dead.

The tragedy strikes when Sans is 18 and Papyrus is 14. Now that his children are older, Gaster allows them to come to work with him. Sans is somewhat of a genius, picking up quantum physics like it's simple algebra. He wants to become an intern at the Lab.

A fight starts at the Lab one day.

Trying to protect his sons, Gaster falls into the CORE, and it's all over.

Papyrus gains his first LOVE killing the monsters responsible for his father's death.

It's all over.

As the elder son, Sans is left scrambling to care for his brother and ensure they can both survive. They can no longer afford to live in the Capital, so they move to Snowdin, where Papyrus finishes school with dismal academic results.

He is, however, quite popular among the students.

Gaster was right; gaining LOVE corrupts what good there is in the heart, and Papyrus is no different. Without his father, and with Sans so busy just trying to make sure they have food and shelter, no one is kind to Papyrus, and he is kind to no one. He quickly rises to the top of the social pyramid in his class, seen as the most formidable and powerful monster in the school by the time he gets out.

Finding academics boring and useless, Papyrus strives to become part of the Royal Guard instead. Undyne, his old childhood friend, is the Captain, and she agrees to train him. He eventually gains his position as the Head of Sentries in Snowdin and at some point tries to take the position of Captain from Undyne, who soundly thrashes him in battle. From then on, he is content being a sentry.

Sans watches his brother rise with some disgust.

His father's death and years of torment at the hands of other monsters has stolen most of the goodness and hope from his heart. He no longer believes he can be good, so for the most part, he does not bother to try.

But he still loves his little brother, and he is immensely sorry to have silently stood by as he watched him become some sort of tyrant.

Papyrus has protected Sans from the other monsters to the best of his ability all these years. Why he has, Sans doesn't know. Papyrus doesn't appear to care about him any more than any other monster. He's forced him to get a job as a sentry and makes him refer to him as "Boss." He yells at him whenever he falls asleep, even though he's fully aware his health is very poor. He gripes about every little thing he does wrong.

Honestly, there is no reason Sans should still love him.

But he can't forget his father's charge from all those years ago.

 _Promise me you'll protect your brother._

It seems that Papyrus no longer needs Sans to do that. Sometimes Sans wonders if he ever really did.

And yet he stays. For years his father insisted there was good in Papyrus, and indeed, Papyrus _had_ been a sweet child in some ways.

But those days are long over.

Now, instead of watching his baby brother play games with their neighbor, he watches Papyrus beat up his opponents in the nightly brawls at Grillby's tavern.

Every night, Sans sits at the bar slowly drinking a glass of liquor and waiting for Papyrus to swagger in, down at least three glasses of whiskey, and challenge some poor soul to a battle they can't win.

If there is ever a time Sans hates his brother, it is during these fights.

The brawls in the tavern are absolutely brutal, and more often than not, the unlucky party who loses is either maimed for life, dies from their injuries after the show, or is slaughtered by the winner. Papyrus has gained much LOVE from these brawls, usually choosing to give his opponent a quick death after prolonging the fighting.

Tonight is no different.

Sans gets too drunk, and Papyrus has to drag him home through the snow after he dusts his latest challenger to the gruff cheers of the other monsters. He throws his brother down on the couch and looks over him with disgust.

"Look at you, drunk out of your mind again," he sneers. "You're so _weak."_

Sans can't hide the hurt on his face, and something twinges deep in Papyrus's soul. He shakes the feeling away. _This is the only way to help him._

"You're going to work tomorrow whether you like it or not," Papyrus says, beginning to head upstairs. "I don't care if you have such a raging headache from your hangover that you can't see, it's your own fault."

He actually recoils as he hears Sans burst into drunk, furious tears. "W-w-why?" he sobs, falling off the couch and trying to pick himself back up. "What d-did I ever do to you?"

"W—what?" Papyrus has not witnessed his brother openly cry since they were very young, and he does not know what to do. The twinging in his heart grows, like a hairline fracture splitting open. He comes back to the bottom of the stairs.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Sans howls. "Y-you're so h-horrible to me—and everyone. Why are you killing people, Papyrus? After all Dad stood for—"

"I told you—" The twinging in Papyrus's soul is now a spasm of agony. "I told you never to mention him!"

"Dad wouldn't like this at all—he wouldn't like _you—"_ Sans is breathing very fast. "He told me to _protect_ you—and you—"

"He _what?"_ Papyrus has never heard this before, and he is taken aback. But then he scoffs. _"You?_ Protect _me?_ He must have been out of his mind. You were always the weak one, _I've_ had to protect _you_ all these years just from other monsters wanting to kick your ass."

"I d-didn't get it either," Sans says slowly, pulling himself up with the couch arm. "But now I d-do. Oh, god. I get it now, he didn't want me to protect you _physically._ He wanted me to—t-to—" He breaks off sobbing.

"What?!" Papyrus shouts.

"He wanted me to stop you from becoming like this!" Sans roars. "Like them!" He points out the window. "He knew—h-he knew when you were older you'd be strong enough not to get hurt—but you were al-always wanting to do bad stuff with the other kids when we were young—Dad always had to stop you—you were _weak_ against the evil that lives here. You _are_ weak—" Suddenly Sans' voice is filled with fury. "How many, Papyrus? How many people have you k-killed for no good reason? How much LOVE do you have? It's proof—proof I failed to protect you. Oh, god, Dad, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, _I'm sorry…"_

Sans repeats the words under his breath, tears pouring down his face, until he falls silent, while Papyrus stands open-mouthed. Part of him wonders how his brother dare say all of this to his face, other than pure drunkenness—but the other part overflows with guilt and some feeling he doesn't recognize. The hairline fracture is now a gaping chasm, and Papyrus is falling.

 _I'm trying to help you,_ he wants to say. _How can you survive if I'm not tough on you?_

But he can't say anything.

He can only swallow and try to fill in the chasm in his soul before he is consumed.

He picks up his passed-out brother with more care than he has shown for many years, takes him upstairs, and lays him on his bed. He looks around the filthy room, sees what years of depression have turned Sans' living quarters into. What they've turned _Sans_ into.

Is this really how Sans has felt all this time?

In the earlier years after Gaster's fall, everything Papyrus had done was because he was trying to distance himself from his brother. The pain of his father's death was fresh, and he did not want to feel that pain again. He figured Sans wouldn't last long in the world, and it would be better if he weren't so attached.

But that had failed utterly. At the age of twenty-seven, Papyrus's love for his brother and desire to protect him is soiled by the terrible things he has done, but it is just as strong as it was when he was a child.

Papyrus made Sans get a job so the other monsters wouldn't think he was loafing around. He yelled at him when he fell asleep so he would keep his guard up. He complained about his shortcomings so he would become better.

But Sans had taken that all as indifference, or even hatred.

And Papyrus knows that must be his own fault.

He goes to his own room and collapses on the bed, his mind going a million miles per hour. _You are weak against the evil that lives here,_ Sans had said. Papyrus swallows. Though he doesn't want to admit it, he knows what that means. His childhood had been a constant battle between wanting to be good like his family and wanting to fit in with the monsters around him. But every time he was good, the other monsters hated him, and when he was bad, his father was disappointed.

At the end of the day, Papyrus just wants friends. He just wants to be loved.

Right now, he has the love of all the monsters in Snowdin. They praise him for his agility, his power, his ruthlessness, his cruelty. _If anyone catches another human,_ they say, _it'll be Papyrus, the amazing Royal Guardsman._

Catching a human… that would put Papyrus down in the history books. Then he'd be loved by every monster in the Underground—he'd get the praise of the King himself.

But is any of that worth it if Sans hates him?

Is it worth it if he tarnishes his father's memory?

In an instant, with a few sentences, everything Papyrus dreams of—everything he's worked toward—it's all shattered. He doesn't know if he wants it any longer.

But does he even have a choice anymore?

If he resigns from the Royal Guard, if he stops showing off his power, the other monsters will take that as weakness, and they could hurt Sans.

Papyrus knows he can't afford that.

No. He can't stop now. It will tear his heart in pieces, but he can't go easy on Sans. It's for his own good.

Papyrus refills the chasm in his heart with hardness, the memory of his past actions, the knowledge of his Level of Violence. Then he goes to sleep, dreaming of his father, killing humans, the darkness, and a single spark of light that, no matter how hard he tries to put it out, will not die.

Deep, deep in his soul, something burns.

oooooooooo

A/N: bad Papyrus. very bad Papyrus.

he's had a tougher time of it than anyone else realizes, though. it wasn't like it was easy for him to go against everything his father taught him at first, but you do tend to get desensitized to those kinds of things in time. it didn't help that he started banning mentions of their dad's name in the house, either.

but at least he's been trying to love someone all these years. even if he fails miserably at showing it.

next chapter might be a while. I'll be updating my papyton fic next and I need to tread carefully with some of the content, which of course takes time. anyway, things are gonna start picking up in this fic now.

hope you all enjoyed this, or are at least interesting in seeing where this goes next.


	4. The Choice

_Chapter 4 – The Choice_

Sans sits at Grillby's bar, his back turned to the commotion behind him.

Papyrus is about to fight again.

He's already had his whiskey for the night, and now he's bragging about his accomplishments to anyone who will listen, which is just about everyone in the bar except for Sans.

Some poor fool gets a little too drunk and claims that he can beat Papyrus in a fight. Sans can only sigh heavily as his brother accepts the challenge, even though the fight isn't remotely fair.

But then, nothing in the Underground has ever been fair.

Screams, jeers, and snarls echo off the walls as the fight begins. Within seconds, it's obvious who's going to win. Sans can't bear to look, certain that Papyrus will end the monster's life as humiliatingly and cruelly as possible.

He doesn't see Papyrus's face.

There is not a single trace of a smile or any kind of pleasure on Papyrus's face as he idly flicks bones at the dog monster in front of him. He's felt strange ever since Sans' drunken tirade last night, and he is not enjoying the thrill of the fight like he normally does. He only took the challenge because refusing it might make him look weak; now he just wants it to end.

Trying to speed things up, he shoots sharp bones more forcefully at his opponent. One of the bones impales the dog in the wrist and pins him to the floor. Papyrus's heart seems to seize up as the dog howls in pain. He vanishes the bone more quickly than he means to, to the confusion of the other monsters surrounding him.

The dog cradles his wrist and does not move to get up from the floor. His wounds are not fatal, but they are painful and he is too exhausted to continue fighting, even if surrender means death.

Papyrus towers over the monster, summons a series of bones to end the fight for good. The dog closes his eyes, accepting his fate.

Everything seems to go silent. Papyrus is only aware of the dog, his magic, and the pounding of his own heart.

He sees Sans, sitting hunched over at the bar, almost seeming to brace himself for what Papyrus would inevitably do.

He hears the voice of his father.

For a brief moment, he does not know what he is going to do.

Will he slay this monster in cold blood and keep his reputation as a ruthless, undefeated brute?

Or will he risk everything he's ever worked for to honor his dead father, and show mercy?

Does he even have a choice?

 _There is always a choice._

Gaster's words from years ago are echoing in Papyrus's head. Things he taught him are coming back.

 _You can always choose to do good, or to do evil. The only thing stopping you from making the right decision is your own heart._

Papyrus's heart was black as night.

But the spark was there, and it flared.

And to the complete and utter shock of everyone in Grillby's, including his own self, Papyrus cancels the fatal magic attack and lets his arm fall to his side.

The dog monster opens his eyes.

How can he cover up this moment of weakness? Papyrus thinks fast. He lets out a low laugh. "You're lucky tonight, runt! I'm allowing you to live. Get up and get out of here. I hope the shame you feel at losing to me is enough to keep you from making foolish decisions—like challenging someone out of your league again."

The dog, completely nonplussed, scrambles up and escapes out the door, the taunts of the other monsters following him.

"And the rest of you—" Papyrus points to the crowd, and they fall silent. "—don't think for a minute that this is weakness. This is me reminding you that _I_ have total control over whether you live or die! I promise that if any of you _ever_ try to attack or challenge me, you will find yourselves missing limbs, and perhaps a life. Don't _any_ of you forget that."

His little speech is punctuated by hoots and hollers as the monsters cheer for him. There's not a doubt in any of their minds that Papyrus is capable of carrying out that promise.

Papyrus smiles and raises his hand for silence again. "No more fights tonight. Just drinks for everyone!"

After sharing a rather nasty amount of liquor with the monsters, Papyrus grabs the back of Sans's jacket. "Come on, we're going home."

"Alright, alright! You don't have to drag me every time, Jesus!" Sans yells, almost falling off the stool.

Papyrus can feel anger radiating off Sans as they walk home. He doesn't know why, but this confuses him. Shouldn't Sans be proud that Papyrus chose not to kill?

It's only once they get inside that Sans turns on his not-so-little brother. "The fuck is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean, _what's wrong with me?_ I _spared_ that monster!" Papyrus shouts back. "You should be _glad!"_

"I should be glad? I should be glad that you think humiliating someone is better than straight up killing them? You realize that poor fucker probably isn't gonna last the night, right?" Sans retorts.

In truth, Papyrus hasn't thought of this—that someone might go after the monster to finish him off. But he doesn't let on. "Everyone knows I left him alive for a reason. No one is going to go against what I said," replies Papyrus, trying to seem uninterested as he sits on the couch.

"You're a real piece of shit, Papyrus." Sans' fists are clenched like he wants to hit something.

Papyrus slowly gets back up. "What the hell did you just say to me?"

Sans isn't even drunk, but it's like last night broke some kind of filter in his brain. "You're a shitstain! You just wanna be cruel and cause as much pain and misery as you can! And I'm fucking _sick of it!"_ he screams, punching the wall.

"You don't _know_ me!" Papyrus yells back. "You don't know why I do anything! I didn't really _want_ to humiliate that monster, I just didn't want to kill him! Because of what _you_ said last night!"

"Last night, last night?" Sans scoffs. "You can't tell me that one conversation has you turning goody two-shoes all of a sudden."

"I've never wanted to _be_ bad, Sans! I've just been trying to _protect_ you all these years! And this is how you're repaying me—"

" _Protect_ me?" Sans' eye is glowing red. "You—you fucking—I haven't felt safe in _years,_ you asshole! I literally _never_ feel more unsafe than when I'm around you! You spend the past thirteen years pushing me around, acting like I'm worthless, condemning me for every little mistake—is _that_ what you call protection?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Papyrus screams so loudly he feels like he might tear his throat. "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO ANYTHING ELSE! IF I'M NOT HARD ON YOU, THEY'LL KILL YOU! AND _I CAN'T LOSE YOU!"_ He sinks to the floor, covering his face with his hands. He _isn't_ going to cry. He hasn't cried since his father died.

But the tears slip out.

Sans seems taken aback at first, but then his gaze turns pitiless. "Really? You can't lose me? 'Cause you sure haven't acted like it."

With that, he teleported away to his room, leaving Papyrus alone on the floor, who dries his own tears, pulls himself onto the couch, and curls up, trying and failing not to drown in his misery.

 **oooooooooo**

A/N: I've had this written for a while, but it took me a while to get around to editing it, and I ended up changing quite a few things. but here it is!

ultimately not a happy chapter, I know. but things will start to change soon... probably within the next couple of chapters or so ;)

next chapter is likely to be a short one, not that any of these have been particularly long yet.

hope you all enjoyed this update, for what it's worth.


	5. The Hope

_Chapter 5 – The Hope_

Papyrus does not sleep all night. For hours he tosses and turns on the couch, wishing that his brother would understand, knowing that the things he has done are really inexcusable.

Eventually he sits up and turns on the television at low volume. His face lights up a little as he recognizes a rerun of one of Mettaton's shows.

Mettaton. The robot's shows are the one thing that can make him smile, even just a bit, in the whole Underground.

Papyrus keeps this fact very well hidden, however. The only other person who knows is Sans, and Papyrus has forbidden him from saying anything about it. He can't imagine what a laughingstock he'd be if everyone else knew he likes Mettaton's shows, which are some of the most hated things in the Underground.

Sometimes Papyrus wonders why any of them stay on the air. They all get horrible reviews and the only reason any of them get viewer ratings is because everyone likes to laugh at Mettaton and call in and bully him.

Papyrus is secretly very impressed with the robot's perseverance; most other monsters would have given up a long time ago, but Mettaton still carries on.

Papyrus has watched every single episode of every single show Mettaton hosted or starred in. He has small pieces of merchandise hidden under his mattress. He's even draw art of Mettaton and considered sending it to the robot, but his courage does not stretch this far.

Mettaton's scripts are written for him, and they tend to be very dry with terrible humor. Papyrus's favorite parts of the shows are when Mettaton goes off script and says or does something truly witty or interesting, such that the audience actually lets out a genuine laugh inadvertently before clamming up and booing as usual.

Papyrus considers those to be Mettaton's shining moments, the ones where the robot's true self shows just for a minute before being forced to adhere to the script again. He hopes that someday, someone will recognize Mettaton's true potential and let him run things his way.

For now, Papyrus just watches the shows for that little bit of Mettaton that he likes.

He smiles involuntarily as Mettaton prepares one of his favorite dishes to cook, spaghetti. He remembers the first time he tried following the scripted recipe, which was bland and too soft, before doing what Mettaton had suggested, cooking the noodles for a little less time and adding different herbs and spices to the sauce. Sans had admitted that the resultant pasta was better than just about anything else he'd ever tasted around the house, so Papyrus had started cooking it more often.

"Are you watching that dumb show again?"

The question snaps Papyrus back into reality. He sees Sans standing at the top of the stairs, smirking at him. He's caught his little brother grinning like an idiot.

"Shut up, Sans," he growls, but there's no threat behind it. "I keep telling you, Mettaton's entertaining when he doesn't have to follow that stupid script. Leave me alone."

Sans comes to the bottom of the stairs. He's never particularly cared for Mettaton's shows, but he's never been one to actively make fun of them, either. He watches the screen idly for a minute.

Papyrus mumbles something under his breath.

"What?" Sans asks.

Papyrus breathes deeply. "Sorry if I woke you up, I was trying not to."

Sans stares at him. _"You…_ are sorry… for waking me up."

"…yes."

" _You_ are actually sorry for waking me up."

"I've confirmed that statement three times now, dumbass," Papyrus barks irritably. Why does trying to be nice always end up like this?

"Well, normally it's 'Sans, why are you such a lazy idiot, get the hell up and get to work,' so excuse me for being confused," sneers Sans. "Anyway, you didn't wake me up. I just… wasn't sleeping."

"Incredible. I don't believe you for a minute."

"Of course not," grumbles Sans. "Look, I'm goin' out. Don't bother to go looking for me when it's time to work, I'll go over to my post myself."

"Sans, wait." Papyrus switches off the television. "I—" He swallows. "I'm sorry."

"If this is about last night, forget it. I don't wanna hear it." Sans' voice is flat and unyielding.

"Please, Sans!" Papyrus begs. He's sitting on his knees, wringing his hands, not caring if he's making a fool of himself anymore. "You don't understand, why I _have_ to—to be like this—"

"Oh, I understand just fine." Sans' tone hasn't changed. "You like being the biggest, baddest person around here, you _like_ pushing me around, but now that I'm not sittin' around and takin' it anymore, you wanna pretend like you're hurt so you can hit me with everything you've got when I'm not expecting it."

"No—I can see why you'd expect that, but—" Papyrus scrambles for words. "You really don't understand—if I'm not—tough on you, how can you be strong enough? You have to stay vigilant or someone will kill you! I'll—I'll admit it, Sans, there was one time I really did try not to care about you—but I couldn't. I-I couldn't stop caring, you're my brother, I—" He can't finish the sentence.

"You what? You _love_ me?" Sans practically laughs out loud. "If you loved me, why didn't we just make a plan together? You _look_ like an asshole to me in front of everyone, but we could be best friends behind closed doors! That shit would have been easy. Nah, you can't convince me you didn't want to be like this."

"I—I was trying to toughen you up. I should have known it was wrong." Papyrus pleads with his eyes. "I'm _sorry."_

Sans openly hesitates; he's never seen his brother look this vulnerable before. He's _begging._ And he seems sincere.

Sans shakes his head. "Look, even if that's true, you can't possibly expect me to just be all 'yeah, let's be best friends now!' That's now how it works. I—I need time to think about this." The years of Papyrus's behavior suddenly weigh down on him, and he's angry again. "Don't fucking bother me," he says as he opens the front door to leave.

Papyrus leaps up and seizes Sans' hoodie sleeve. Sans closes his eyes and waits for a blow, certain he's incurred his brother's wrath.

But it doesn't come.

"Don't go outside right now, there's some really nasty people who hang around this time of night," Papyrus pleads, his voice full of unbridled fear.

 _Fear._

Sans has never known his brother to be afraid.

Perhaps that really is all Papyrus is.

Afraid. His behavior, all acts of desperation to keep his brother alive.

But then why did he seem to enjoy mindless fighting and killing?

"Don't touch me," Sans hisses, wrenching his arm away.

"Please." Papyrus's voice is now calmer, but there's still a waver there. "Just—just watch some more of Mettaton's show with me." He sits on the couch, leaving room for Sans, and switches on the television again.

Sans can't believe anything he's just seen.

Some of him doesn't want to believe it.

But there's the tiniest glimmer of hope in his heart.

The tiniest hope that it's all true, that Papyrus has never truly wanted to hurt him, that he wants to be better.

"Alright," he breathes, and sits down to watch shows with his brother for the next couple of hours.

Unbeknownst to them, far away at the only entrance to the Underground, a human child falls and begins a journey that can only end in death or victory.

 **oooooooooo**

A/N: this chapter was actually done a couple of weeks ago lol... I just forgot to post it here.

anyway, things are looking a little brighter, especially now that the Underground has a new addition to its population...

hope you enjoyed!


	6. The Human

_Chapter 6 – The Human_

Papyrus and Sans start work late this morning. In front of the other monsters, Papyrus pretends that he had to spend extra time yelling at Sans to get up. In reality, he'd let his older brother fall asleep for a while on the couch before remembering that the other sentries would wonder where they were.

Papyrus walks with Sans to his station. "Don't fall asleep or fool around out here," he warns. "Really. Anyone could take advantage of you. Just stay vigilant and I'll come to check on you later."

"I'm not a fucking baby, Papyru—uh, Boss. I'll be fine," Sans grumbles. No one has gotten him yet. He's a lighter sleeper than anyone gives him credit for.

Papyrus narrows his eyes, but says nothing else. He only stalks off toward his own post.

Once he's gone, Sans leaves his station and sneaks off toward the great purple doors at the end of the path. These doors stand between him and one small comfort—a woman with a tired but kind voice who laughs at his jokes and tells her own to him.

Most of their conversations are lighthearted banter. But sometimes Sans vents to her about how his brother treats him.

And he'd never forget the one time she was serious with him.

She'd made him promise to protect any humans who came through the doors. Sans had thought this promise to be ridiculous—no one ever came through the doors. And her charge was to protect a _human?_ There'd be bounties on his head if anyone ever found out. Hell, Papyrus, even with this strange new attitude of his, might well kill him on the spot.

And yet, he'd promised, figuring it was an easy way to keep her trust, and nothing would ever really happen.

But little does he know, his promise is about to be tested.

When he comes to the end of the path, he stops in shock—the doors are opening! He teleports off the path immediately, keeping a sharp eye on the being that emerges.

Sans has never seen a monster like this before. Nor has he ever felt soul power emanate so strongly from any monster.

His breath catches in his chest.

This must be a _human._

The doors begin to close behind the human, who turns and takes one last look at whatever lies behind. Then they take a deep breath and start to walk down the path towards Snowdin.

The first thing Sans notices is that the human has a backpack with something green and yellow sticking out of it—was that a _flower?_ With a _face?_ Sans can't believe his eyes when the flower seems to lean forward of its own accord to whisper into the human's ear.

The next thing Sans notices is a growing sense of déjà vu, some weird kind of familiarity—like he's met this human before. Like he _knows_ that flower.

But that's ridiculous. He's never even _seen_ a human or a sentient flower before.

He begins to follow, still off the path. He has no idea what to do now. His heart wants to keep his promise to the woman behind the door, but his common sense knows that he probably can't.

Neither the human nor the flower appear to hear him, though the flower's head turns from side to side nervously. The human comes across a large branch in the path and tries to pick it up for protection, but it is too heavy, and they have to leave it behind.

Sans wonders what the two will do if they hear a noise. He uses a shortcut to get directly behind the branch and sends a bone through it, snapping it like a twig and creating a loud cracking noise. Then he immediately teleports back off the path.

The human jumps and turns back without making a sound. The flower gasps dramatically, vines wrapping around the shoulders of the human. They stare at the broken branch, obviously wondering who could have destroyed it so easily.

They're moving much faster now. For fun, Sans purposefully crunches the snow with his feet, causing the human to start running without even looking back. They finally stop when they reach a bridge with a gate.

Sans has realized that this human must be a child—they had the same shortness, the same chubby cheeks, the same silly running gait that many monster children had. Now he _really_ didn't know what to do.

His father had told him never to kill.

But his king has ordered for human souls to be brought to him.

But he'd promised the woman he'd _protect_ humans.

And wouldn't killing this human, this _child,_ make him a bad person?

Hadn't he just told off his own brother for killing?

Sans steps out of the woods resolutely and slowly stalks toward the human, who stands frozen in fear along with the flower. He makes sure to stay in the shadows where they can't see him, trying to figure out what to say.

"Human," he says in a deep, raspy voice.

Now what can he say?

"Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand."

The human turns around, despite the flower's protests and pleads to run away.

Sans sticks out his hand, the sleeve of his jacket covering most of his palm.

The human takes his hand, and a loud farting noise fills the air.

Sans laughs at the looks on the faces of the human and the flower. "Heheheh… the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It's _always_ funny," he explains. "Or at least it would be if anyone ever laughed…" he adds under his breath.

"Anyways… you're a human, right?" he asks, wanting to make absolutely sure. The human nods and seems to brace for something.

"That's hilarious."

They stare at him with confusion.

"I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. I'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now," says Sans almost breezily. The flower tenses up. "But… ya know… I don't really care about capturing anybody."

"Yeah. You don't care about capturing, but you _do_ care about _killing,_ I'll bet," the flower blurts out in an annoying, nasally voice.

"Me?" Sans laughs loudly. "Nah, killing's not my thing. Now my brother, Papyrus…" Sans freezes a minute to calm himself down. "He's a human-hunting _fanatic._ He'd probably kill you on the spot if he didn't like giving people puzzles so much. Oh, hey, look at that, I think that's actually him over there," he interrupts himself, sounding almost bored on the outside, while on the inside he's panicking. The human and flower turn around in alarm. "Look, if you want to live, I have an idea. Go through this gate thingy."

The human studies the gate.

"Yeah, just go right through," Sans urges impatiently. "Boss made the bars too wide to stop anyone."

He practically pushes the human into the clearing beyond the gate. "Quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp," he instructs them. They duck behind the lamp just as Papyrus enters the clearing.

"'Sup, Boss?" Sans asks calmly.

"Don't "'sup" me, Sans," Papyrus snaps. "Have you recalibrated your puzzles at all recently?"

"Not for about eight days now."

"And of course you're proud of that. I ask you to take precautions to protect yourself and you just hang around outside your station instead. What are you even doing?!" Papyrus demands.

"Staring at this lamp. It's really cool. You wanna look?"

Papyrus splutters. "No! I don't have time for that and neither do you! I mean, for _fuck's_ sake, Sans, what if a human of all things comes through here?! We have to be ready! _I_ have to be ready!"

Sans can sense one of his brother's tangents coming on.

"I will be the one! I _must_ be the one!" Papyrus continues. "I will kill a human! And I will present their soul to the King! And then I, the Great and Terrible Papyrus, will get all the things I utterly deserve!"

Sans wonders what happened to the nice-guy act Papyrus had had this morning.

"Respect… recognition…"

Papyrus already had both those things.

"The king will finally look on me with favor. I'll have more than just mere sentries under me. Hell, even Undyne hasn't killed a human yet—maybe he'll grant me her position! I'll bathe in the praise of every monster every morning."

"Hmm…" says Sans boredly. "Maybe this lamp will help you." He can see the flower hissing at him in panic.

"SANS! Enough with the damn lamp! You're not helping!" fumes Papyrus. "You lazybones! All you do is sit and boondoggle! You get lazier and lazier every day, even though it could mean your death!"

"Hey, take it easy, Boss. I've gotten a _ton_ of work done today. A _skele-_ ton."

"Oh, no. No, no, no, you can fuck right off with your puns, Sans," Papyrus hisses. "You're being awfully snippy today. Just because I was nice earlier doesn't mean you get to treat me like this."

"Come on, you're smiling."

"If I'm smiling, it's only because I'm thinking about killing you." Papyrus seems to regret his words as soon as he says them.

Sans has nothing to say to that.

Papyrus sighs. "Why does someone as great as me have to do so much just to get some recognition?"

Sans smirks. "Wow, sounds like you're really working yourself… down to the bone."

Papyrus growls, but seems to have no desire to hurt his brother. "Ugh. I will attend to my puzzles. As for your work, how about you put a little more _backbone_ into it, or you'll find yourself in very big trouble." He laughs loudly as he stalks away, coming back for one last _heh._

Once Sans is sure he is gone, he tells the human, "Okay, you can come out now."

The flower is fuming. "You could have gotten us killed!"

"I knew he wouldn't do anything," Sans brushes him off. "Now get your asses going. If he comes back, you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes and his yelling."

The human looks off in the direction Papyrus went off in and smiles.

"What's _that_ look for?" the flower demands. "You can't tell me you _like_ Papyrus already. The guy might kill us on sight." He looks back at Sans, and seemingly decides that the skeleton is trustworthy. "This kid's been talking monsters out of fighting left, right, and center back where we came from. I've never seen anything like it. But it can't possibly work on _him."_ The flower talks about Papyrus as if he knows him.

But that's impossible.

Papyrus has never met a talking flower before.

But the more Sans thinks about it, the more familiar this flower seems to be.

And the human as well. Sans studies their face closely. Suddenly he swears he remembers this child—brown skin, dark, curly hair, black eyes full of brokenness, but also full of hope.

But that can't be right.

"Huh," he says, pretending to be uninterested, but secretly intrigued by everything he's thinking about. "You never know. Some people are more persuadable than we give 'em credit for. Now _go_ already."

Sans watches the child leave before he uses one of his shortcuts to get ahead of them. There's definitely something familiar about the way they walk with their head high, afraid of the world around them, but determined.

Determined to do… what?

He'll have to keep a close eye on that kid.

 **oooooooooo**

A/N: wooooooooooooo! it's been awhile, hasn't it? but I've been pretty busy with stuff, so hopefully you can forgive me.

I used the canon dialogue from the game for this scene as a reference, but I diverted from it quite a bit in a few places for obvious reasons.

I hope you're enjoying this story so far! my beta reader certainly is. and I can't wait to continue further on.


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